The Way We Work A Guide to Smart Workingin Government

The Way We Work A Guide to Smart Working in Government

Foreword

The Challenge of Reform

It is said that people are an organisations greatest asset.I strongly agree. The dedication and commitment of ourcolleagues is one of the best things about working inthe Civil Service.

But all too often people are delivering high qualityservices against a background of outdated IT, poorlydesigned workplaces and inflexible working practices.People can only realise their full potential, and that ofthe organisation they work in, if we empower themwith the right tools and the right environment. Morethan anything we have to free-up the culture of work so that people can just get on with it unhindered. This is why the way we work is so very important.

The Civil Service Reform Plan sets out a goal ofCreating a decent working environment for all staff,with modern workplaces enabling flexible working,substantially improving IT tools and streamlining securityrequirements to be less burdensome for staff. The WayWe Work will help us realise this goal.

Working smarter means that we have to challenge allthe assumptions of our traditional ways of working and bring in new approaches to management andteamwork, with a sharp focus on management by

outcomes. We need to develop skills and sharedexpectations about how work is done, and beinnovative in developing more effective and efficientways of working.

Transforming the way we work is not a nice-to-have. It is the only way to make sure we provide the servicesour customers expect and demand now and in thefuture.

This book is a guide to smart working in centralgovernment. It throws a spotlight on best practice thatis really making a difference to the way people work.

We all have our successes but rarely in all areas.Where people are doing things that are clearly working,adopt them as your own. I encourage you to go for it and then share what improved!

Martin DonnellyPermanent Secretary, BusinessInnovation and Skills, and Chair of the TW3 Delivery Board

Foreword i

The Way We Work A Guide to Smart Working in Government

Contents

1 The vision 1

2 Key principles of Smart Working 3

3 People, workstyles and culture change 7

4 New environments for new ways of working 15

5 Technologies for Smart Working 27

6 Smart, sustainable and healthy 37

7 Making the case and implementing change 41

8 Moving forward 49

9 Further resources and information 51

Contents iii

The Way We Work A Guide to Smart Working in Government

Our aim for this book is to provide a guide tothe new ways of working brought in throughthe Civil Service Reform programme which willenable all parts of the Civil Service to workseamlessly across locations, and at times thatare more advantageous to citizens, employeesand taxpayers.

1 The vision

The way we work is changing but not fastenough. In the current challenging climate, mostcompanies and public sector organisations arelooking closely at what they do and how they do it.

Now is the time to take steps not only to weatherthe current economic pressures, but also to planfor the longer term. Working smarter should be atthe heart of transforming and streamlining ourorganisations.

This goal is at the heart of the Civil Service Reform Plan.So we are setting out the vision that by 2015 the CivilService will be more efficient and a better place to work,where people:

Focus on outcomes not process

Are empowered by technology

Work flexibly and cost-effectively

Collaborate more effectively with other teams in their own department and other departments

Maximise productivity and innovation while reducing environmental impact.

We aim to ensure that, by end 2015, we will bewell on the way to a Civil Service in which:

Well-designed workplaces support how people workbest, with location options such as shared hubs,hosted space, HQs and home

Work is being done in a variety of appropriatelydesigned shared settings within those workplaces, no longer tethered to a desk

IT is usable, convenient and works just as well in andaway from the office; and is comparable to thetechnology people use at home

Connectivity to colleagues and to data can beprovided from virtually anywhere

Security and access arrangements make it easy andsafe to work in a variety of settings

Leaders embrace and exploit the flexibility,productivity and effectiveness offered by the changesto our workplaces.

Work in the 21st century is about what you do, notwhere you do it. Strategic use of new technologiesenables much of the work we do to be carried out frommany other locations as well as offices.

Our aim for this book is to provide a guide to the newways of working brought in through the Civil ServiceReform programme which will enable all parts of theCivil Service to work seamlessly across locations, and at times that are more advantageous to citizens,employees and taxpayers.

We call this Smart Working

The Way We Work (TW3) is the Cabinet Office led cross-departmental programme designed to help realise theCivil Service Reform Plans aim of Creating a decentworking environment for all staff, with modernworkplaces enabling flexible working, substantiallyimproving IT tools and streamlining securityrequirements to be less burdensome for staff.

Transforming the way we work is not a nice-to-have. It is the only way to make sure we providethe services our customers expect and demand now and in the future.

The vision 1

Cabinet Office

The Cabinet Office itself has ambitious plans fortransformation linked to IT, workplace and culturalreforms and Richard Heaton, Permanent Secretaryfor the Cabinet Office leading this programme says:I am determined to create in the Cabinet Officethe best possible working environment, withtechnology that meets peoples needs. We want tobe able to work more smartly and more flexibly,

better able to collaborate across all our teams andto be more creative, innovative and productive. Inthe near future staff will see more choice in theworkplaces they can use and the IT they are offered,whether theyre in the office or on the move. TheirIT will be more like the range of devices andsoftware we are all used to outside work. Likeothers were transforming the way we work and Impretty sure that when we get this right CabinetOffice will be up there with the best.

2 The Way We Work

We want to be ableto work more smartly

and more flexibly

Smart Working is about taking a comprehensiveand strategic approach to modernising workingpractices across Government.

It is based on the following principles:

Work takes place at the most effective locations andat the most effective times, respecting the needs ofthe task, the customer, the individual and the team

Simplified collaboration and connectivity virtuallyeverywhere means sharing information and workingwith others regardless of location

Space is allocated to activities, not individuals and noton the basis of seniority

A Flexibility First approach where flexibility is thenorm rather than the exception. Everyone is assumedto be capable of Smart Working without assumptionsbeing made about people or roles

A shared and agreed approach to Smart Workingbalances the freedom to choose with theresponsibility to meet business needs

The processes people are asked to work with arecontinuously challenged to make sure they are fit for purpose

Managing performance focuses on results andoutcomes rather than presence

The outcomes of adopting Smart Working will be:

Greater productivity and services delivered moreeffectively

The costs and environmental impacts of workreduced as space is shared and used more intensively

People having more choice about when where andhow they work, supported and connected byeffective and appropriate use of technology

People have the opportunity to lead more balancedand healthier lives.

What will this mean in practice?

For departments, this means a new approach tothinking about the way people work in terms of SmartWorking principles.

Smart Working provides a strategic and business-focused framework for adopting smart, agile working as the norm. This means taking a proactive rather than a reactive approach to flexibility, by seeking out thebenefits rather than waiting for individual employeerequests. Limitations on flexibility need to be based on clear operational need.

Management by results rather than presence which is best practice in any case will become furtherembedded as a core management competence.

Assessing the total costs of how we work should informdecisions about work styles. This includes both thefinancial costs and the environmental costs (e.g. inrelation to use of buildings, resources, and travel). In essence, the footprint of work is reduced.

As a result of the greater flexibility and agility,departments will become more adaptable to change.For example, working in project teams acrossdepartments, changes to organisational structure andchanges to headcount will become much easier tomanage and involve few of the physical changes toworkplaces that are currently involved.

Business continuity will be enhanced by the ability towork in an all-electronic environment and from a muchwider range of locations. In effect, the office is thenetwork.

Key principles of Smart Working 3

2 Key principles of Smart Working

For individuals, this means being empowered tochoose the best times and places to work, varying startand finish times and choosing work set